


Unseen

by Anonymous



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Class Differences, Crime Fighting, FBI agents, Hurt/Comfort, Investigations, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining, Superheroes, Superpowers, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:21:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21601174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Adam is an FBI agent, new to the force and with a whole lot to prove. He works in the criminal division, and nothing makes him happier than catching the bad guys. Kaiko spends his days dancing on the poverty line, but he's got a special trick up his sleeve that allows him to solve crimes like no one else. With lives like these, the two were bound to meet, and when they do, sparks fly. But the connection they have isn't half as peaceable as it should be, especially if the criminals they catch have anything to say about it.Also posted on Royal Road under the user karmadillo
Relationships: Kaiko/Adam, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13
Collections: Anonymous Fics





	1. Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW discussions of crimes like kidnapping.

Adam had been an official FBI agent for about a month before his division got their first missing person’s case.

“Kid got snatched off of twelfth street, local PD called us because our resources are better and they’re worried he skipped town,” His supervisor, John Brower said, slapping a file on Adam’s desk. “Got a partial plate and a car color. Already put out an APB and an amber alert.”

“Sir,” Said Bianca Mariani, Adam’s desk partner and senior agent. “Should we… go get _him?_ ” She asked, and Adam frowned. He had no idea what they were talking about, but it sounded important.

“That’s what I’m thinkin’,” John agreed, and looked sharply at Adam. “Adam, why don’t you come along, it’s about time you learned.”

“Learned what, sir?” Adam asked, already standing and gathering his stuff. John Brower was not known for his patience.

“It’ll be better just so show you,” John dismissed him, grabbing his briefcase. “Mariani, make sure we have cars on every available exit, but chances are he’s already off the roads.” Bianca nodded her assent, and Adam dutifully followed Brower out of the office and into his car.

They drove in silence. Adam would have tried to make small talk, but from what he knew about Brower, the man didn’t appreciate such trivialities. Eventually they reached their destination, though Adam couldn’t believe they were really where they were meant to be. He was disinclined to call it the ghetto, but he was sure his peers would label it that without hesitation. They were in the poorer side of town, parked in front of a run down apartment building. Despite his confusion, he followed his boss into the building, up the rickety staircase, and down a hallway with a flickering lightbulb. They stopped at apartment 308, and the door opened just as Brower raised his fist to knock.

A small, dark haired man was standing in the doorway. He was lean, with hints of muscle protruding under his tight, long sleeve shirt. His blackish brown hair framed his face with soft curls. He was beautiful, but the expression on his face was one of exhaustion tinged with annoyance, and Adam couldn’t help but feel it marred his features.

“Yes?” He asked expectantly, if a little rudely. Adam whipped his head to look at Brower, who he was sure would have a stern expression on his face. No one in the FBI would ever dare speak to Brower with that tone, but, instead of looking pissed, Brower had a wry smile on his face.

“Missing person,” Brower said. “Snatched kid.” The other man’s face softened.

“DNA?” He asked, and Brower pulled a plastic bag out of his briefcase.

“Hairbrush,” Brower said, and the man pulled his apartment door closed.

“Alright, then,” He said. “Let’s go.” And with that they were heading back out to the car, only this time with a stranger, whom Adam did not know in the slightest, though he was very intrigued. When they got in the car, Adam turned around in his seat to offer his hand.

“I’m Adam, by the way. Adam Sanders.”

“Kaiko Nuñez,” He deadpanned, and Kaiko took his hand and shook it. Adam marveled silently at how soft his hands were, but he was a little off put by Kaiko’s indifferent demeanor.

“Don’t distract him,” Brower ordered Adam, who turned back around a little sheepishly. After a moment of silence, he wanted to ask what exactly was happening.

“So-”

“ _Sh!_ ” Brower cut him off emphatically. “Be quiet, and wait.” Adam did as he was told without question. He did notice that Brower seemed to be driving the three of them in circles, waiting for _something_ , but Adam had no idea what. He was acutely aware of Kaiko in the backseat. He was just as silent as the two FBI agents, but his brow was furrowed and his eyes were closed, as if focusing intently. He clutched the victim’s hairbrush tightly in his hand, and Adam cringed when he thought about the interference with evidence. Adam stared as a bead of sweat dripped down the side of Kaiko’s face. Suddenly, and without warning, his eyes burst open.

“531 Wayne street, it’s about fifteen minutes away from here,” Kaiko said, and Adam looked at him quizzically, unsure of what he was talking about. But Brower didn’t question it, instead he ordered his in-car GPS to direct him to the address, turned on his sirens, and they started racing down the street.

“Adam,” He said, tone clipped. “Call Mariani and tell her to alert whatever police units are in the area to meet us there.”

“Yes, sir,” Adam said, and he wasted no time in making the call. Bianca texted him when it was complete, and he let Brower know that the three police cars would be there in a few minutes, awaiting their arrival before acting.

“Kaiko, how’d you-” He started to ask, but when he turned around he saw that Kaiko was lying down in the backseat, practically passed out.

“Let him sleep,” Brower said softly, in sharp contrast to the jerky movements he was making with the car.

“But, how did he-”

“Sanders,” Brower said. “I promise I’ll explain, it’s just not the priority right now.”

“Of course, sir,” Adam said, assuming his more formal tone. He was an agent, and there was a little girl who had been kidnapped. He needed to focus.

They pulled up a block away from the house, across the street from the police cars they’d requested for backup. Adam and Brower got out of the car, leaving Kaiko in the backseat with the windows rolled down, like one would a dog.

“We’ll approach the house first,” Brower told the officers. “Take cover in the shrubbery or behind the other houses, but stay out of sight. We’ll lure him out.” The officers all nodded and it finally hit Adam that he was about to catch his first, real criminal. He didn’t even try to stop the wave of excitement that washed over him.

He followed Brower up to the suspect’s doorstep, but they waited to knock until all the officers were set. Once, twice, Brower knocked before the door opened.

“What?” Asked the man behind the door. He had a beer gut and a wispy beard that reminded Adam of a goat. Adam instantly hated his guts.

“Sir, we received an anonymous tip that a vehicle matching the description of one we’re looking for is parked at this residence. Would you mind if we take a look in your garage?”

“Yes, I mind,” The man replied. “Come back when you have a warrant.” He tried to close the door on them, but Brower stuck his leg in the frame and kept it open.

“I would, but you see, I don’t actually need one-” He began.

“Bullshit,” The man interrupted, but John Brower continued, pulling out his gun.

“The anonymous tip we got? It had a lot of accurate and predictive details in it. And my own observations are corroborating those claims, which is actually all I need to make an arrest. So, if you’d place your hands on your head and step out of the doorway,” Brower said, and gestured with the gun for the man to come out of his home. Foaming at the mouth, the suspect complied.

“Officers!” Brower called out, ordering the police to come out of hiding. “Read him his rights.” One of the policemen acquiesced quickly, holding his gun to the perp’s head while his partner pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “Sanders, with me.” And the two of them held their guns low and entered the premises. They went room by room, kicking in each door and clearing it quickly. They went through four separate rooms in the small house without finding the kidnapping victim, and Adam was beginning to feel his stomach sink.

His concern was unnecessary, however, as they kicked in the door to the fifth room and saw a young girl, no more than ten years old, bound and gagged on what could only be the man’s bed. Adam shuddered, and kept his gun lifted as Brower went to go help the young girl, though not before taking a picture for evidentiary records.

“You’re alright,” Brower said gently, as he removed the girl’s shackles and took the gag out of her mouth. “We got ‘im. He’s going to jail for a long time, and we’re gonna get you back to your parents,” He reassured her calmly. The girl looked at him and nodded, eyes puffy from crying. Brower held her hand and led her out of the room, handing her over to one of the police officers, who told them that the girl’s parents were waiting at the station already and would meet them at the hospital.  
Adam stood by silently as Brower recounted the events of the arrest to one of the officers, who took careful notes for their record. He watched as an ambulance came screeching by to whisk the young girl away to the hospital to be properly processed and evaluated. The car holding the perp was driven away to the county’s jail to await his legal procedures. He’d have to plead guilty if he was smart. Brower finished regaling the police officer with his account of the events and led him back to the car.

“Is that it?” Adam asked, a little disappointed with how quickly the whole thing had come and gone. Brower shrugged.

“We’ll send our own techs to work with the police’s, but I doubt they’ll need it. We caught him with a young girl tied up on his bed, it doesn’t get much more red-handed than that,” He said as he slid into the driver’s seat of the car. “I’m sure you’ll get some cases in your career with long, drawn out investigations and months of work, don’t worry.”

They drove in silence, back to Kaiko’s apartment. The man in question was still fast asleep in the backseat, but he woke with a start when they parked in front of his building.

“How did it go?” He yawned.

“Really well,” Brower said, smiling a kind smile that Adam quietly thought he’d never be on the receiving end of. “Got the kid back, she’s with her parents now. Perp’s in custody.”

“Good,” Kaiko said simply. Even though Adam was sure it was genuine, he couldn’t help but notice the tiredness in his voice.

“How did you know where she was?” Adam blurted out before he could stop himself. Brower shot him a glare, but Kaiko just smirked.

“It’s a secret,” He said playfully, and Adam couldn’t help but feel like everyone but him was in on a joke that he desperately wanted to know.

“Thank you, Kaiko, honestly,” Brower said, and Kaiko’s smug smile faded into a genuine one.

“Anytime, John. I mean it.” And with that, he slipped out of the car and disappeared back into his apartment. Adam opened his mouth immediately to ask questions, but Brower silenced him with a finger.

“I’ll tell you what I know, but you won’t like it at first,” Brower said, and Adam closed his mouth obediently. “He’s explained it a million times and I still don’t get it, but to my understanding, Kaiko can _sense_ things.”

“ _Sense_ things?” Adam asked, perplexed.

“I told you, I don’t really get it. He can just sense things. Things that you can’t see. Things that are far away. He can use it to catch criminals, find vics, things like that. He’s been a real asset these past few years, saved a lot of lives.”

“That doesn’t make-”

“Make any sense? Yeah, I know. I told you you wouldn’t like it. I’ve asked Kaiko before, but he won’t tell us how exactly he’s able to do what he can. I get the feeling he doesn’t really want to talk about it, so I’d avoid asking him about it, if I were you. All I know is that he can find people we need found, and he’s willing to do it.”

“How do you know he’s not involved?” Adam asked suspiciously.

“The amount of crimes he’s solved… No one’s got that kind of time to be involved in any of them. Trust me, the more you see him work, the more you’ll believe it.”

“So, when you said you got an anonymous tip…” Brower pursed his lips at that.

“I don’t like doing that,” He admitted. “But it’s necessary. Kaiko’s gift, unfortunately, is not admissible evidence, and we can’t actually use it to make arrests. Mariani is probably already fudging the paperwork that says we got an anonymous tip.” Adam must’ve been making a face, because Brower clearly felt that he needed to explain himself further. “Look, I’d rather break some bureaucratic rules that don’t take into account special circumstances than follow the rules and let people die that I know I could’ve saved.” Adam nodded. He was new to the force, and he hadn’t seen the things the older agent had, but he could understand the logic.

“Anyway,” Brower continued. “You’re new, but it was time to let you in on that secret.”

“How many people know?” He asked, and Brower had to think on it a second.

“Me, you, Mariani, Kamala, Stewart, Zhang, and Adkins. It’s kept as quiet as it can be, but I’m glad I brought you.”

“Why is that, sir?” Adam asked. He didn’t feel like he’d been any particular help.

“Because Kaiko liked you.”

“What?” Adam asked, more confused than he had been before. He had gotten mostly an air of indifference from Kaiko, definitely not one of fondness.

“Yeah,” Brower laughed. “Might not seem like it, but you should see how he treats Adkins.” That wasn’t surprising. Bennett Adkins didn’t exactly have a reputation for being agreeable, and Kaiko didn’t seem like the type to act fake when he didn’t need to. “That means you’ll probably be on Kaiko-duty in the future.”

“Kaiko-duty, sir?” He said uncertainly.

“You’ll get him from his apartment and wait while he tracks down whoever we need to find, pretty much exactly what we did today,” He said, and Adam nodded. “You won’t do that all the time, don’t worry. I’m still gonna get you a lot of experience in the field. But it’s rare that we have someone that Kaiko actually enjoys, and I don’t want to make the experience any more unpleasant for him than it already is.”

“Unpleasant, sir?” Adam said, feeling stupid by how many questions he was asking. The agent nodded.

“There’s a reason he passed out after he located the girl; what he does is exhausting. Useful as Hell, no doubt, but exhausting. And you’ve gotta remember the kinda things he’s looking for: kidnapping victims, murder suspects, dead bodies. It’s dark stuff, and that takes a toll,” Brower seemed to be genuinely upset now, and there was no stopping the rant that was coming. “One of the most frustrating parts is that we can’t even pay ‘im. Normally, if we came back to someone this often to ask them for help on a case, we’d invite them on as a consultant and put them on the payroll. But, because of the nature of the whole thing, and the fact that his gift just isn’t understood, we have to keep the whole thing under wraps, which means he’s _trapped_ in that god-awful building in that shitty neighborhood with no way out. He does a lot for us. He’s probably done more to protect the public than I have, and we can’t even compensate him for it.” Brower shook his head before getting out of the car.

Adam followed him into the building, though it was only half an hour before his shift ended. He spent the whole thirty minutes contemplating everything he’d just seen and heard. He wasn’t sure how to feel, or even if he could accept what he had seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has been swirling around in my head for months and I'm just glad to start getting it out. That being said, I know original works aren't as popular on here as transformative ones, which is totally cool, but I'd really appreciate it if anyone who does read this drops a comment below. Comments are honestly the best form of validation and they make it so much easier to write. So, if anyone enjoyed this, please let me know! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

“Sir,” Bianca Mariani said to Brower in front of their unit. Adam watched dutifully. “A local unit called in, they caught wind of Chernov.”

“Chernov?” Brower asked. “He’s been gone for years.”

“Three years, actually,” Bennett Adkins chimed in, unasked. “Intelligence said he was hiding out in Guam.”

“Any word on why he’s back?” Brower asked, not deigning to acknowledge Bennett.

“No,” Bianca shook her head. “It was just a tip from a long-time informant.”

“Alright,” Brower said. “After how close we got to catching him last time, he won’t be here for long- we have to move.” An intensity washed over the room. Brower, true to his word, wasted no time in assigning them all various duties and obligations. “Adkins, Kamala, get out APBs on every recent car he’s had. He won’t be using any of them, but it can’t hurt to try. Stewart, get word to the press, I want everyone in the city looking for this guy-”

“Is that really wise, sir?” Bennett interrupted. “If he knows he’s being hunted, we’ll nev-”

“Zhang, you’ll run things back here, monitor the lines for any tips,” Brower continued, unfazed. “Mariani, go to forensics and see what DNA samples we have. Sanders, you’re on Kaiko.” Adam straightened his shoulders and back when he received his assignment. He’d been told by Brower before that he’d be asked to get Kaiko, but now was his first chance to do so, and on his own and everything. He finally felt like he had some semblance of independence, and he was bound and determined not to mess it up.

“Yes, sir,” Adam responded, but Brower was on a roll and didn’t acknowledge him.

“I’m gonna go link up with the department that called it in, and SWAT’ll be ready to roll as soon as we get a location. You all have your assignments, now go.”

Adam left obediently, scrambling his things together and following Bianca out of the building. She walked confidently, a little faster than Adam’s comfortable pace, and he raced to catch up to her.

“Who’s Chenrov?”

“Chernov,” Bianca corrected him. “He _was_ one of the head guys in the Russian Mafia. A couple of years ago we actually had enough evidence to convict him, but he fled the country. He’s a bad guy, Adam, I mean really bad. Murder, rape, torture, the whole nine yards. We’re lucky to get this chance, it won’t happen again. I’m going to forensics to get whatever DNA we have so that Kaiko can do his thing. What time is it?”

Adam looked at his watch, “It’s 11:37.”

“Okay,” Bianca said, like she was focusing as they reached their cars. “Kaiko’s at his first job right now, at the coffee place on sixth and thirtieth. You know it?”

“I’ll be able to find it,” He assured her and she smiled.

“That’s the right answer. I should beat you back here, but text me when you get him and I’ll let you know if I’m not.” Adam nodded respectfully and got in his car. Sixth and thirtieth, he could do that.

***

Adam found the coffee shop easily enough. It was a nice place, a large building that had birch trimmings and a large glass window that let the early morning sunlight trickle in happily. It was a local shop, and it had the appearance and aura meant to attract New York’s finest hipsters. The interior smelled so strongly of coffee beans that Adam was sure it was intentional. There was indie music playing in the background, intermixed with the voices of about fifteen people talking to each other.

It took Adam a minute to locate Kaiko, who seemed rather preoccupied with whatever New Age-inspired coffee drink he was brewing. He looked up when Adam walked in, and Adam took a moment to appreciate Kaiko’s appearance. Kaiko was wearing what Adam assumed was the coffee shop’s uniform, a black collared shirt that managed to show off the firm edges of Kaiko’s body. His dark hair looked almost fluffy, and his brown eyes shone in the coffee shop lighting.

Adam approached the counter and opened his mouth to speak when Kaiko cut him off, “Let me get my manager,” He said, then he leaned in closer to Adam and said softly. “Just do your cop thing.” With that Kaiko spun around, disappearing into a hallway behind the counter. Adam stood there, befuddled, as a woman, presumably his manager, followed Kaiko out of the back of the building where they stood in front of Adam. There was an awkward silence for a moment before Adam understood what he was supposed to do.

“Ma’am, Adam Sanders, FBI,” He said, pulling out his badge. The woman looked at him skeptically.

“Marissa Shoor,” She said. “What is this about?”

“I need to speak to Mr. Nuñez regarding details about a crime. It’s, uh, confidential,” She still looked suspicious. “And urgent.”

“Again?” She said, exasperated.

“My shift’s over in an hour anyway,” Kaiko told her gently, but Marissa still did not look happy.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Adam said. “I apologize for any inconvenience, but it really is urgent.” Marissa rolled her eyes.

“Just take him.”

“Thank you,” Kaiko said. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Marissa dismissed him, and Kaiko reached under the counter to grab his jacket and followed Adam out to his parked car, sliding gracefully into the front seat.

“Does that happen a lot?” Adam asked, a little perplexed at what had just happened.

“More than it should,” Kaiko said. “Marissa’s too nice to actually fire me, but you all have interrupted me in the middle of a shift a thousand times. I think that she thinks I’m in some sort of crime ring and I’m just constantly informing on all of my associates.”

Adam smiled at that, “It’s funny you should bring up crime rings.”

***

Adam and Kaiko ended up meeting Bianca at the forensics office, where things didn’t seem to have gone all that well.

“They _lost_ the DNA on file,” Bianca told them, hands pulling at the hair on her head. “They don’t know where it is and I spent the last half an hour looking, I can’t find it.” She was pacing back and forth wildly. There was a folder tucked under her elbow that remained in place only by the will of God. Kaiko pointed to it.

“Is that the rest of his file?” He asked and Bianca nodded, handing it to him. He flipped through it, then whistled lowly. “Wow. This guy’s got one Hell of a rap sheet.”

“Oh, believe me, I know,” Bianca said urgently. Kaiko kept flipping calmly.

“No DNA,” He tutted in agreement. “But there are dental records, weirdly enough.” Kaiko pulled out an X-Ray that did indeed show Chernov’s teeth.

“You can find him with that?” Bianca asked in amazement and Kaiko nodded.

“It’s not as good as DNA, but it should do. Especially with teeth like this. Judging by the number of crowns and false teeth, someone didn’t do a good job of brushing.”

Bianca looked relieved, her shoulders relaxing and her brow unfurrowing. Kaiko closed his eyes, clutching the X-Ray tightly, and the three of them waited in silence. It did take longer than it had when Kaiko had located the young kidnapping victim, presumably because he’d actually had her DNA. Adam still didn’t know exactly how Kaiko’s powers worked, or if what he was doing even had anything to do with powers of some sort, but he was itching to know more.

Kaiko’s eyes burst open and he gasped. There was a bead of sweat trailing down the side of his forehead. “He’s at a warehouse on eighth avenue and fifty-first street. He’s not alone, there are nine other guys with guns. They’ve got one big pile of money, and I’m pretty sure they have cocaine there, too. It looks like they’re trying to leave, though. They’re loading all the cash and drugs into this car. You’d better get going.”

Bianca had whipped out her phone almost as soon as Kaiko had started talking, and she’d dialed Brower’s number. “It’s Mariani. We got him. He’s at a warehouse on eighth ave and fifty-first with at least nine other individuals, all carrying firearms. Kaiko says they’re preparing to leave, so SWAT needs to get there fast.” She held the phone to her ear for a moment longer, receiving instructions the rest of them couldn’t hear, before she hung up the phone.

“Brower says we should get going. It’s unlikely that we’ll make it there before SWAT, but we should be there for the arrest regardless. That means that Kaiko-”

“I know my way home,” He assured her. That was apparently an adequate response for whatever she was going to say because she paused and smiled warmly at him for a second.

“Thank you,” She said earnestly. “You’ve helped us catch a truly horrible person.”

“Anytime,” Kaiko said, and Bianca took that as her cue to practically sprint to her car.

“Thanks, Kaiko,” Adam echoed Bianca’s sentiment and followed her to the car, which was practically rolling away by the time he got in.

Just as Bianca had predicted, they got there long after the SWAT team did, but they got to see Chernov duck his head to get into a police car. Brower waved them over. There were almost a dozen reporters around, cameras flashing and microphones waving.

“Good work Mariani, Sanders,” He said in a businesslike manner. “We successfully apprehended all nine of Chernov’s associates, but I doubt any of them will talk. The Russian mafia is particularly harsh to snitches. Still, it doesn’t bode well that so many followers came back so soon after his arrival. This might mean a resurgence of the Russian mob. I’ve already talked to local PD about future vigilance, and the press will cover this more than enough for people to be on their guard, but the FBI will most likely run point on any major investigations that’ll come through, so we need to be ready, too. I have to go and make a press statement, so I’ll meet you all back at HQ.”

Brower didn’t wait for them to respond before walking briskly away, leaving Adam and the other agents to their own devices. Bianca drove him back to the office, where they spent the rest of the day filing all the necessary paperwork. Some of the senior officers conducted interviews with the apprehended mobsters, but Adam wasn’t yet qualified enough to do that alone.

“Just to clarify,” Adam began, leaning over to Bianca once they were back at the office. “Brower had Stewart leak the search to the press so that we’d have a cover for Kaiko?” Bianca tilted her head in assent.

“For smaller criminals we can usually get away with forging random tips, but for something higher profile it’s smart to make it more public, that way when they get caught the idea of a tip is more realistic. A prosecutor started asking questions a while ago, so we’ve had to be more careful.” Adam nodded at that.

“I’m gonna go observe Zhang’s interrogation, wanna come with?” He asked her but Bianca told him that she still had some paperwork to finish and so Adam went alone, but he didn’t focus anyway.

***

The door to Kaiko’s apartment swung open before Adam could knock. Kaiko looked surprised to see him that evening.

“Agent,” He said.

“You can just call me Adam,” Adam said and Kaiko obliged.

“Adam. What are you doing here?” Kaiko stood in a small gap in the doorway, not letting Adam take a look inside.

“I just wanted to thank you,” Adam said. “We caught him today, and we probably wouldn’t have if it weren’t for you. So, thanks.”

“You already thanked me earlier,” Kaiko said, though he was grinning a little bit.

“I know,” Adam said. “But then we just kind of left you to fend for yourself and you had to take off work and I just feel bad.”

“You don’t need to feel bad,” Kaiko assured him. “I don’t have to help if I don’t want to. Everything I do is my choice.”

“Yeah,” Adam said because, yes, that was technically true. “But I just wanted you to- Is that Brower?” Adam asked, referring to the noise coming from inside the apartment.

“John? It’s the TV- his press statement has been played probably ten times in the last hour,” Kaiko said, and opened the door wide, allowing Adam to follow him inside to the TV. Kaiko’s apartment was small, but not unpleasant. A small kitchen greeted Adam to the right, with a granite counter and mahogany cupboards. A living room of sorts sat to his left, complete with a small dark couch, a glass coffee table, and a TV mounted to the wall. Brower did indeed light up the TV screen, strong stance and grizzly voice booming around the apartment.

“What are you planning to charge him with?” One reporter asked on the screen.

“We still need to examine all of the evidence and formalize the prosecution, but it’s safe to say that there will be several charges of drug trafficking, assault, money laundering, and extortion, to say the least,” Brower answered on the TV.

“How did know Chernov’s whereabouts?” A different reporter asked.

“Good, solid police work combined with a vigilant citizenry allowed us to correctly ascertain Chernov’s location.”

“Does it bother you,” Adam asked, speaking over the TV. “That you don’t get any credit?”

“No,” Kaiko said simply. “I actually prefer it that way. It makes it easier, flying under the radar. Besides, I can’t complain about a lack of recognition when I have FBI agents randomly showing up at my door to thank me.”

“Right,” Adam said, trying to keep his cheeks from reddening in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, it’s late, I should go.”

“That’s not what I said.” Kaiko said, eyes low. “But you’re right, it’s late, and I have work in the morning, so let me see you out.”

Adam went to bed that night feeling conflicted about the whole day. It was good that they caught Chernov, but it didn’t feel right that no one knew it was Kaiko who had caught him. Adam felt satisfied that he’d gone to Kaiko personally and thanked him for everything he did, but he couldn’t help the feeling that Kaiko didn’t feel like he deserved thanks. There was also the fact that Adam still had no idea _what_ Kaiko did, exactly, and that question was growing and growing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, sorry this took a while. Big thanks to everyone who's commented so far, it really makes me feel so good about writing. Consider letting me know what you think about the story so far. :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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